Who This Helps
If you're a founder feeling pulled in ten directions, this is for you. The Product Portfolio Strategy course gives you a simple system to organize your bets, from new features to big pivots. It turns your gut feelings into a clear, visual plan everyone can get behind.
Mini Case
Imagine your team is debating whether to build a new analytics dashboard or fix core onboarding. You spend 3 hours in a meeting, everyone leaves frustrated, and nothing gets decided. With a portfolio map, you'd size each bet (maybe the dashboard is a 3-month project, onboarding fixes are 2 weeks). You'd see your team's capacity is only 4 months of work this quarter. The choice becomes obvious: fix onboarding now, schedule the dashboard for next quarter. Decision time: 20 minutes.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- List Everything. Grab a whiteboard or doc. Write down every active project, idea, and maintenance task. Don't filter yet. Just get it all out.
- Size Your Bets. Next to each item, put a rough time estimate: S (days), M (weeks), L (months). Be honest, not optimistic.
- Map Confidence. For each bet, note your confidence level: High, Medium, or Low. Is it a sure thing or a moonshot?
- Draw the Grid. Make a simple 2x2. One axis is effort (your sizing), the other is confidence. Plot each bet as a dot.
- Sequence the Work. Look at your team's capacity for the next 90 days. Which high-confidence, lower-effort bets can you slot in first? That's your starting sequence.
Avoid These Traps
- Perfection Paralysis: Your first map will be messy. That's okay. A rough, shared picture is better than a perfect, private one.
- Ignoring the 'Keep the Lights On' Work: Remember to account for bug fixes, customer support, and tech debt. It usually eats 30% of capacity.
- Forgetting to Kill Things: If a bet has been 'in progress' for 6 months with low confidence, it's a zombie. Have the courage to stop it.
- Skipping the Review: A portfolio isn't a one-time artifact. Schedule a quick 30-minute check-in every month to update it. Your future self will thank you.
Your Win by Friday
By this Friday, have a single page—yes, just one—that shows every bet your team is considering, sized and sequenced for the next quarter. Share it in your next team sync. Watch the 'what should we do?' debates vanish. You'll have a clear, compact artifact to guide every decision. Now go make your portfolio make sense. You've got this.